Tommy's Pet Business
by Lost42
Summary: When Tommy overhears his parents talking about how they are going to pay bills due to Stu's lack of good inventions Tommy decides to help his parents out.


Tommy was watching tv with Dil on a rainy afternoon. He wasn't really paying attention to what show since he would've rather been playing with his friends outside. However none of his friends were over to play at the moment because of the threat for flash flooding. He was about to fall asleep until he heard his parents talking in the kitchen.

"Stu how are we going to get all these bills paid?" Didi asked in a distressed tone as she and Stu looked over that months bills.

"Don't worry. I'm working on an invention as we speak that is going to make all our troubles go away." Stu assured his wife.

"I like your optimism Stu, but you've been saying that for years. I'll just teach some extra classes to make the money we need." Didi told him."With the kids in school now it'll be easier to work full time."

Back in the living room Tommy was fully awake. He turned to to Dil."Did you hear that Dil? Mommy and daddy need more to pay bills."

"What are bills?" Dil asked. He was only five and didn't know much about the grown up world. Tommy didn't know what bills were either, but whatever they were they needed money.

"I don't know, but we gotta help get mommy and daddy get some money." Tommy replied.

"How are we going to do that?" Dil asked.

Tommy looked around the room and noticed some old toys laying in the corner where the playpen once stood. This gave him an idea."We could sell our old toys that we don't play with nomore."

"That's a good idea." Dil said jumoing off the couch and walking backwards over to the old toys. As he was walking he stepped on a stuffed Dummi Bear and tripped falling into the old toys breaking a few.

"Dil we can't sell broke toys." Tommy cried running over and helping Dil up.

"Oops." Dil said picking up a blue handle that used to go on a push thing with colorful balls in it."We can still sell Jelly Bear."

"I think we're going to need more toys then that." Tommy muttered as he looked at the small pile of mostly broken toys.

"Let's go look in our rooms. We have lots of toys up there." Dil suggested grabbing Tommy's hand and leading him up the stairs the right way this time.

The boys split up when they reached the hallway and went to their seperate rooms in search of toys to sell. They came out an hour later empty handed.

"I still play with all my toys up here." Dil said.

"Me too." Tommy said sitting down dehectly in the hallway. Dil soon joined him.

The boys sat in the hallway for awhile just thinking until Didi called them down for dinner. The boys walked downstairs and sat at the table barely touchig their food.

"Is something wrong boys?" Didi asked noticing her boys picking at their plates which they normally didn't do.

"Nothing." Dil and Tommy answered in unison as they began to eat at a more normal pace.

That night Tommy had a hard time falling asleep and once sleep finally took hold of him it wasn't to pleasant.

In his dream he saw himself and Dil sitting at the table with nothing to eat. They were all dirty from not being able to use water and the house was all dark. His whole family wore ripped clothes. He sat up in shock.

"I gotta think of something soon." Tommy said as he made himself comfortable and began to drift back to sleep.

"You don't look so good Tommy." Chuckie noted as he took his seat next to his best friend.

"I'm just tired Chuckie."Tommy told him."My mommy and daddy need money and I can't think of a way to help them."

"You could take care of people's pets." Lil suggested.

"Yeah. We did that once for Susie and she gived us money." Phil added.

"You would be really good at that Tommy." Kimi said.

"Yeah. You take good care of Spike and Spiffi." Chuckie added.

Tommy thought about it for a minute."You're right guys. That does sound like the perfect job for me. Anybody got any pets that needs watching?'

The kids looked at each other and shook their heads no.

"Maybe you could watch Min Jun's dog." Phil suggested."He told me he won't be here this weekend."

"Thanks Phil. I'll ask him after school." Tommy said feeling much better now that he could help out his family.

After school Tommy caught Min Jun before they had to get on the loud bus.

"Hey do you need someone to watch your dog this weekend?" Tommy asked as they stood on the steps leading out to the waiting lines.

"Yeah. My cousin and aunt are coming with us so we don't have anybody to watch her. I almost asked Angelica this morning but I don't trust her with Cleo." Min Jun explained.

"Well you made a good choice not trusting Angelica." Tommy pointed out."I can watch her for you."

"Thanks. I'll let my mom know we have somebody to watch Cleo now." Min Jun said as he stepped onto the bus with Tommy following behind.

When Tommy got home he noticed it was just his dad and Dil.

"Where's mom?" Tommy asked not used to his mother not being there when he got home from school.

"Don't know."Dil asnwered not looking away from the tv."She wasn't here when I got home either."

Tommy went down to the basement where he was sure his dad was and sat on the stairs watching him work.

After a minute Stu looked up and noticed Tommy sitting on the steps."Hey Tommy."

Tommy started to say something but stopped when he noticed his dad had gone back to work. It was getting loud in the basement so Tommy went back upstairs and joined Dil on the couch.

"Did you come up with a plan to help mommy and daddy?" Dil asked looking away from the Goober show.

"Yep. I'm going to watch Min Jun's dog." Tommy announced proudly.

"That's good. Did you tell daddy?" Dil asked.

Tommy hadn't thought about asking his parents first and he had already made a promise."Um no, but it'll be ok."

On Saturday morning the doorbell rang. Tommy was surprised to find his uncle Drew and Angelica standing on the porch holding a cat carrier.

"Hi Uncle Drew." Tommy greeted."My mommy and daddy are in the kitchen."

Tommy stepped aside and let them in. Drew went into the kitchen to talk to Stu and Didi.

"Tommy." Angelica started dweetly.

Tommy knew where this was going and he dreaded the rest of Angelica's sentence.

"I really don't want to ask this but can you please please please watch Fluffy this weekend." Angelica begged grabbing Tommy by the shirt and falling to her knees.

Tommy really didn't want to, but thought this would be a good excuse to not have to reveal his plan to his parents. He knew they wouldn't take money from him that he earned. He wanted to surprise them.

"Ok. I'll do it, but you have to give me money." Tommy told her.

"Ok." Angelica said getting up and digging in her purse and pulling out a ten dollar bill."There's more where that comes from when I come back if Fluffy is happy."

"Thanks Angelica." Tommy cried.

Soon after Tommy got his first payment the door bell rang once again.

"I got it." Tommy called running to answer the door to find Min Jun and his sister Ji Yeon atanding there with their dog Cleo.

"Hey guys." Tommy greeted.

"Hi." The Korean kids greeted. Upon hearing his best friend's voice Dil ran from the kitchen table where he had just finished breakfast and stood next to Tommy.

Tommy and Dil stepped outside so their parents wouldn't hear their conversation.

"My mommy and daddy don't know that I'm doing this." Tommy explained."I want to surprise them with money.

"Well here." Min Jun said handing Tommy a small wad of cash and Cleo's leash.

"I still don't know what I'm going to do to help." Dil said sadly.

"You could watch Panda for me." Ji Yeon suggested pulling out a small panda from her Moana backpack.

"Ok." Dil said taking the panda from her.

"And here. It's all the money I got but I know you'll take good care of Panda for me." Ji Yeon said pulling a quarter out of her pocket and handing it to Dil.

"Thanks. I promise I'll take really good care of him." Dil said crossing his heart.

"Who was that?" Didi asked as the boys walked back inside with the dog and panda.

"Min Jun needs somebody to watch Cleo." Tommy explained.

"You should've asked first." Didi scolded him."We already have to look after Fluffy and she doesn't exactly get along well with dogs."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of everything." Tommy assured his mom.

Tommy began the process of seperating the animals to ensure no fights broke out. He put the dogs outside and left Fluffy in her carrier upstairs in his room. He left the carrier open and sat Fluffy's food and water bowls out in case she wanted them. He closed the door and went back downstairs to give the dogs some attention.

He went outside and played with Spike and spiffi, but was confused when Cleo didn't want to play with him. He grew tired after a while and went back inside to check on Flluffy. He found her downstairs sitting on the couch with Dil, who was dangling a mouse toy in front of her.

"Dil what is Fluffy doing down here?" Tommy asked."I thought you were taking care of Ji Yeon's panda."

"I am. He's taking a nap on my bed."Dil replied just as a camotion was heard.

"Uh oh. I left the door open." Tommy cried running into the kitchen to find Spiffie chasing Cleo.

The two dogs ran through the living room scaring Fluffy. The dogs and cat all ended up running upstairs. Tommy and Dil were hot on their heels.

"Which way did they go?" Tommy asked.

Dil didn't have time to answer as they heard barking coming from Dil's room.

Tommy and Dil ran in the room to find Fluffy on top of the dresser and Spiff barking at something under Dil's bed.

"I'll take Fluffy back to my room and you get Spiffi back outside." Tommy instructed.

"What about Cleo?" Dil asked.

"We'll find her later now come on and help me." Tommy ordered as he carefully lifted the white cat off the dresser. Upon seeing Fluffy in Tommy's arms Spiffi began to bark once more making the cat dig it's sharp claws into Tommy's shoilder.

"Ow." Tommy cried dropping Fluffy and grabbing his shoulder. Spiffi began to chase Fluffy once again."Get Spiffi."

The boys ran after the purple poodle mix eventually getting him back outside.

"Pet sitting is making me tired." Tommy said as he plopped down on the couch out of breath.

"Yeah and we still gotta find Cleo." Dil added.

Once the boys caught their breath they headed back upstairs to Dil's room. The room was now empty and the boys began to search. They looked all over Dil's room but found no trace of the cat or dog.

"The panda is gone." Dil cried as he got up from looking under the bed.

"We'll find it later." Tommy assured his brother."Let's look in my room."

The boys walked into Tommy's room and found Fluffy curled up alseep in the window sill.

"At least we found one of them." Tommy sighed in relief.

The boys were about to continue their search when they heard two familar voices coming up the stairs. Cleo must've heard them too because as soon as Phil stepped inside Tommy's room she darted out from somewhere and knocked Phil to the ground.

"I guess you followed our advice." Phil grunted from underneath the dog.

"Yeah, but how did you get her to do that?" Tommy asked."She won't even play with me."

"She just has to get used to you." Phil told him as he sat up."I go to Min Jun's house alot so she knows me."

"I guess that makes sense." Tommy muttered. He wasn't used to a dog not liking him.

"Kids time for lunch." Didi called. The kids went downstairs forgetting to sperate the dog and cat.

Tommy was a little surprised when he came downstairs to find grilled cheese sandwhiches and tomatoe soup. They had had had food for breakfast, but he and his mom had just gone to the store a few days ago and picked up a brand new box of Reptar cereal. How did his parents need money when they could afford to feed them more then once a day and two of his friends also.

"Maybe you don't need money to buy food. you just need it for bills." Tommy thought to himself as he remembered his mom used a card to pay for the groceries instead of money.

He ate his lunch no longer worrying about going hungry. He was haldway through his lunch when he almost choked on his soup.

"Uh Phil, can you come upstairs with me?" Tommy asked dropping his spoon into his bowl.

"Uh ok." Phil answered a bit confused as to why they had to leave their lunch. Then he remebered.

He and Tommy bolted up the stairs and were shocked at what they saw.

Cleo and Fluffy were curled up on Fluffy's cat bed. They didn't exactly fit because Cleo was bigger, but the anumals didn't seem to mind.

"I don't get it." Tommy mused."Fluffy hates dogs."

"Cleo's been around cats before so maybe that's why Fluffy is being nice to her." Phil said."i never thought I'd see the day when that cat was actually nice."

"Well I guess we had nothing to worry about." Tommy said and he and Phil went back downstairs to finish their lunch.

A little while later the kids went back upstairs and Cleo slowly started to warm up to Tommy.

That night Tommy gave Spike and Spiffi their dinner outside since Spiffi was to hyper for Cleo, she got her dinner inside as did Fluffy.

Once the animals had been taken care of Tommy had a bath and got ready for bed. He walked into his room to find Fluffy sleeping in the very middle of his bed.

"Come on fluffy move over." Tommy said trying to make the cat by pushing her to the side. This caused fluffy t hiss at him and not wanting to get scratched again Tommy climbed into bed and made himself as comfortable as possible.

Tommy was just drifting off to sleep when he heard whining coming from the side of his bed.

"Sorry Cleo. There's no room inmy bed." Tommy told the dog.

Cleo then went to the door and began whining again. Tommy sighed and got up careful not to wake Fluffy, who had moved a little at some point and gave him a little more room. Tommy opened the door and watched Cleo go into Dil's room. Tommy thought of going after her but figured Dil wouldn't mind. So he drug himslef back to bed. It had been a long day.

Dil was sleeping soundly when he felt something touch him. He opened one eye and noticed Cleo was at the side of his bed.

"What are you doing in here?" Dil asked sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He patted the bed beside him, but Cleo didn't jump on. instead she went over to the dresser and began whiining. Dil was confused so he got out of bed and went ovrer to investigate. He leaned down but couldn't see anything. He turned on the light and noticed something black under the dresser. He went and grabbed his grabber that had an alien hed on it and manuevered the mysterious thing out from under the dresser.

"Ji Yeon's panda." Dil cried."You found it."

Dil turned off the light and climbed back into bed with the panda safely tucked under his arm. Cleo layed down beside him and together they fell asleep.

The next morning Angelica arrived to pick up Fluffy. She examined the cat and found her to be in the exact same shape she was in before.

"You did good. Here's the rest of your money." Angelica said handing him another ten dollar bill.

"When is Cleo leaving?" Dil asked as he sat with the dog on the couch watching t v.

"I don't know." Tommy answered as he came inside from giving the other dogs their breakfast.

"Why does Spiffi have to stay outside?" Dil asked as he watched the purple dog paw at the back door.

"Cleo doesn't like him for some reason." Tommy answered.

"Well maybe we can help them be friends." Dil suggested pulling Cleo off the couch.

"Good idea Dil." Tommy figured Cleo just needed time to warm up to spiffi like she did with him.

They went outside and Spiffi jumped on them getting mud all over them. He soon turned his attention away from the boys and onto Cleo. The two dogs began to chase each other just like before, only now they were getting dirty.

"Uh oh. Dil we can't give Cleo back all dirty." Tommy cried.

Dil went and grabbed Cleo and with Tommy's help they got her inside. Their hands were full trying to not make a mess and holding the dog so she wouldn't run off back outside. Tommy kicked at the door thinking he closed it. He would soon realize he was very wrong.

"Ok Dil, you hold her and I'll run the water." Tommy instructed.

However a camotion in the hallway caught Dil's attention and he let go of Cleo, who escaed out the bathroom door.

Tommy saw a flash of purple and groaned as he began to chase the two once again. They ended up in Dil's room getting muddy spots on the carpet and Dil's bed sheets.

The boys hearded the dogs into the bathroom and shut the door. Luckile for Tommy the bathtub hadn't overflowed and together he and dil mananged to get the dogs cleaned and dried off.

"I'm glad that's over." Dil sighed going back to his room to find everything from his bed now gone. He sat down and began to cry."I had the easiest job and I couldn't do it."

"What's wrong Dil?" Tommy asked kneeling beside Dil.

"I lost the panda again after Cleo found it yesterday night." Dil sobbed.

Once Dild ried his tears the boys began to search for the panda once again. This time having no luck.

Sometime later Tommy and Dil were eating lunch when the door bell rang.

"I'll get it." Tommy called leaving the table and going over to the door and opening it to find Min Jun and Ji Yeon.

"Hi guys." Tommy greeted.

"Hi." They said back.

"How was watching Cleo?" Min Jun asked as the dog ran out and jumped on him nearly knocking him over.

"She's a good dog. She even got a long with Fluffy." Tommy told him.

"Where's Dil and my panda?" Ji Yeon asked.

"I'm right here." Dil sniffled at seeing his friend."Here's you money back."

Ji Yeon took the quarter back and asked."But why?'

"Cuz I lost your panda again. Cleo found it the first time." Dil explained.

"If you lost it then what's that?" Ji Yeon pointed to the top of the laundry basket that Didi was carrying upstairs.

"The panda!" Dil exclaimed running up to his mom and and snatching the plush off the folded laundry and handing him to Ji Yeon.

"Ooh he's all warm." Ji Yeon said happily."Here's your money back."

"Thanks." Dil said taking the quarter back and giiving Ji Yeon a hug.

"We gotta go home now. bye." Min Jun said taking his sister in one hand and Cleo's leash in the other and walking down the sidewalk.

"I'm very proud of you boys for doing such a good job and making some money for yourselves." Didi said as she came down the stairs from putting laundry away.

"We didn't make it for us." Tommy told her as he pulled out his wad of cash."We made it so you can pay bills."

"That's sweet of you, but you should spend it on yoursleves. you've earned it." Didi assured them.

"But what about the bills?" Tommy asked.

"That's not for you to worry about and we'll be fine." Didi assured him.

"I have great news." Stu proclaimed coming out of the basement."A toy company in japan want to buy my modle for the new reptar bikes."

"That's great honey." Didi said.

"We should celebrate. What do you all say to Piggy's Pizza Palace?" Stu asked.

"Yay." Tommy and Dil cheered.

The End


End file.
